Midnight Pleasures

Paperback, 192 pages

English language

Published April 6, 1991 by Tor Books.

ISBN:
978-0-8125-1574-9
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OCLC Number:
23441082

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5 stars (1 review)

From Publishers Weekly This latest collection from Bloch, who has been writing professionally for 52 years, is a middling mix of crime, fantasy and horror stories. Two of the 14 selections are early works: a negligible, almost plotless humor piece, "But First These Words," and an unconvincing horror story, "The Totem Pole," interesting mostly for its vintageit's from a 1939 Weird Tales. The other 12 date from the past decade and include "The Spoiled Bride," a comic, if rather grim, tale of a future in which men can choose their mates from among the cryogenically frozen; a character study of a psychotic Nazi type who murders a little Jewish girl, "The Rubber Room"; and "Everybody Needs a Little Love," the all-too-predictable tale of a man who takes a store mannequin for a companion. Best in the book are a well-wrought tale of adultery and revenge, "The Night Before Christmas," and …

2 editions

Right book at the right time

5 stars

I see overall, this collection didn't get the best reviews. But it's been a while since I've read some short stories, and I've never read anything by Bloch before, so this book hit the spot for me. Obviously, not all the stories were winners, but when Bloch nailed the creepiness with the good ones, he really crushed it. Overall, I'm giving it 5 stars, but I think that's because this was the right book at the right time for me. If I reread it in the future, that rating might come down when I'm more objective.

The Rubber Room - Started with a story that seems, unfortunately, more relevant today about a Neo-Nazi striking out on his own to murder a Jewish girl and then wonder why people would arrest him for it. The twisty ending set the tone for the rest of the collection and let me know this …

Subjects

  • Horror tales, American
  • Short stories
  • Horror